Longmont fire investigators determine blaze was an accident

Officials: Building is a total loss, 25 people displaced

Leslie Cole escaped a burning Longmont apartment complex Thursday night with her mother and daughter, but with little else.

She stood outside the police tape Friday morning and surveyed the damage to her home at 1322 S. Coffman St. and tried to plan her family's next steps.

"We have nothing. We have no socks. We have no clothes," she said. "I am wearing my friend's shoes."

Cole, along with her daughter, Briana, and mother, Sue Koeller, have lived at the six-unit complex for seven years with pets and their possessions.

Longmont Police Cmdr. Jeff Satur described the building Friday morning as a "total loss" after a Thursday night fire ripped through the complex north to south just after 9 p.m. He said Friday afternoon that the fire started in a chimney chase, which is a structure through which a chimney is run, investigators determined.

The building was built in 1973, he said, and the structure had deteriorated, so when the residents lit their first fire of the year, the chase heated and combusted. The fire triggered an explosion in the attic of the building, which blew out windows and caused the ceilings to fall.

Briana Cole said it took only minutes for the flames to tear through the building as residents scattered. She said the family's hamster died and the cat is missing, but the dog escaped with them. She said other neighbors lost pets, as well.

Leslie Cole said she and Briana were in the basement of their unit on the south side of the complex and heard a crash.

"I thought it was an earthquake or something, and then we heard another crash and it was the ceiling falling down," Briana Cole said.

Leslie Cole said she heard her mother scream when the hallway ceiling in their unit fell, so she and Briana ran to the main floor.

"We didn't know it was a fire. We didn't smell smoke. There were no flames," Leslie Cole said, adding she suspected the swamp cooler had leaked and fallen through the ceiling. Then, she said, she heard other doors opening as neighbors made their way out.

"The first thing I saw was somebody saying, 'Get out of the house now!' I was like, what? Why? I turned around saw the house was on fire," Briana Cole said.

They scrambled to safety as flames bore down on them.

The family stayed the night with a friend, but they believe they lost most or all of their possessions. They won't know for sure until the fire investigation is completed and they are allowed back in, if they are allowed back in. From their vantage point outside of the fire line Friday morning, it wasn't looking good.

Leslie Cole said she is on disability and likely lost $17,000 worth of medications. Briana Cole said she had a vast book collection that was most certainly destroyed. September's flooding threatened their complex but did not quite reach it. The proximity of that disaster put rental insurance on the Coles' agenda. They planned to save and add it in December, so they were not covered during the fire.

They are among 25 people displaced by the fire.

Satur said a passerby noticed the fire, which was reported at 9:13 p.m. The first fire units arrived three minutes later to begin battling the blaze. The Boulder Fire Department and Mountain View Fire Rescue also sent help, and between 30 and 35 fire personnel fought the fire late into the night.